1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic publishing and, more particularly, to the finishing of printed sheets into booklets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic publishing demands more than a stack of paper in an output tray of a laser or ink jet printer. Typically, many sheets, duplex printed, must be bound into finished documents by a paper-handling accessory. Currently, machines exist to perform operations such as perfect binding, folding, trimming, saddle stapling, and hole drilling. These finishing operations are typically performed on many sheets at a time, requiring high forces and powerful motors. Such machines are expensive, $2,000-$10,000 depending on function, and often exceed the cost of desktop or office printers. As such, they are not well-suited to low-cost desktop finishing.
The demands of electronic and desktop publishing are driving the need for a compact, low-cost, high-quality, and low- to medium-speed finishing machine suitable for use with desktop laser and ink jet printers. Prior art solutions to making booklets typically involve machines costing $4000 or more for simple functions such as folding and stapling. They are bulky and require a long paper path to implement sequential finishing operations. Trimming and punching are performed on the assembled booklet, and this requires a cutter and power source capable of processing 20 to 50 sheets at one time.
Thus, it can be seen that current finishing techniques impose size, cost and power limits upon booklet making devices, and hinder the use of these devices in many applications.
Therefore, there is an unresolved need for a finishing technique that permits one to make booklets using a low-power device which is inexpensive and compact.